Surrounded & Swept Up By The Lov(ing) of God

I’ve had a song stuck in my head for a couple of days now.

That’s not uncommon for me. I’ll sing a complete song, repeatedly, all the way through, for several days. Usually a couple of times a day, I’ll sing it at the top of my lungs. Especially if the song has a great crescendo that warrants a big finish. Like a good Adele tune or something from a Broadway musical.

The stuck-song is normally something catchy and slightly inappropriate. Not that I can claim to have edgy musical tastes. You’re more likely to hear James Taylor & Sara Groves bumpin’ at my house than…pretty much anything else. But on occasion, it just makes me giggle that a suburban stay-at-home mom is belting out Cee-Lo in her jammies at the kitchen sink.

We sang it at Bible Study Fellowship. The lyrics swam around in my head for the rest of the week, just like most lyrics from most songs I hear.

But it wasn’t just stuck in my head. It was stuck in my heart.

When our voices united in this chorus, I was overwhelmed. Yes, by the love of God as the song so beautifully extols. So rich and pure. So measureless and strong.

I was suddenly overwhelmed not just by God’s Love, but by the lovingof God that surrounded me.

I don’t know who it was, but someone was warbling her precious heart out.

It caught my attention. I just stopped and listened. Closed my eyes and felt the words sink in. Felt her love of Him.

I heard more voices, so many. So many around me, fervently praising. I became so filled, so full, overflowing, eyes dewy with tears, by the swelling of their worship. The knowledge of all these faithful souls gathering. Feeling the same Spirit filling each one of us. Enveloping, ebbing and flowing, in and in between each one of us.

There we all stood. Sharing the same Best Friend.

Hundreds singing in unison. Hundreds opening their hearts and minds to know their Best Friend better. So many together, praying for personal closeness to this Friend. That others would get to know Him. That they might share this mutual Friend.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye the most gorgeous woman.

Yes, I took a picture of her incognito.
Just call me the “Prayer Paparazzi.”

Everything about her was so beautiful to me in that moment. Dog-eared study materials, whole-hearted song emanating from within. Lighter hair than mine and a few more lines, tracking her life experience. She shone. From deep inside.

I closed my eyes and felt her singing of these words sink in. Her years surpassing mine. Our separate years of worshipping hitching on to one another. Her towing me along, in a great train of worshippers, traveling the same track.

I was swept up by her long life spent doing exactly this. Singing the great love of God.

——-

“Dear Gorgeous Golden-Years Worshiper,

You sat next to me at BSF this week. Your voice, your note taking, your fervent prayer. You swept me up along with you, drew me into our family.

Connected us to one another, to those around us. To those in other cities, to my dearly missed sisters in Los Angeles and Illinois. To nameless, faceless brothers & sisters around the world. To those in centuries past and future. All beating to the rhythm of the same Heart.

Thank you.

Thank you for uniting with me in nothing but spirit. But most strongly and deeply. In our shared Spirit.”

——-

I was suddenly so thankful, for being a grain in this great sand. For being one of these many stars.

God did promise Abraham his people would be a great nation. More numerous than the grains of sand, than the stars in the sky.

There I stood, surrounded by my fellow specks and stars.

By so many, so beautiful in their worship of God. I felt so small and so large at the same time.

Such a tiny thing part of such a beautiful whole.

Overtaken by the many years represented in this room, the many days spent connected to the same Lord, and through Him, to one another.

I listened to the voices of my sisters. I let the song of my family seep into every fiber.

I felt myself get swept up in this great wave of hearts, like a tide pulling closer to the shore, to our Lord.

I thought how many times these words had been sung, been given up to Him. I read something this week about the key stanza in this song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

I read that this stanza (which was written in 1917) was based on a Jewish poem, “Haddamut,” written in 1050.

Were the sky of parchment made,

A quill each reed, each twig and blade,

Could we with ink the oceans fill,

Were every man a scribe of skill,

The marvelous story of God’s great glory

Would still remain untold;

For He, most high, the earth and sky

Created alone of old.

Both authors wrote of mankind never being finished with the writing of God’s love.

Never being done talking about it, singing about it. From 1050 to today, and before and beyond.

So many pens writing the same message in the words of each new generation. So many voices lifted, repeating the love of God. So many hearts united over the centuries in the same great wave of worship and closeness to the same Lord.

I caught a glimpse of something holy & wholly different this week.

A glimpse at what God may see when His family is gathered, hand in hand, walking the same road, toward the same destination.

I caught a glimpse at the union of the family of God, felt this union of Spirit deep in my soul.

This Sunday, every Sunday, in every gathering of believers, I hope you feel it.

I hope you get a whiff, feel the gentle tug of the tide, the pull of the same Spirit that we all share.

Thank you for this. I hope that gorgeous woman sees it. Nothing is as beautiful as a godly woman. This is a wonderful post. Thanks so much for sharing it. I also attend BSF and I nodded my head in agreement with your experience all the way through.

My sister sent me this beautiful article. I didn’t know who the article was describing as I was reading. I was caught up in the beauty of that song and felt myself singing as I read. As I scrolled down, I saw my Mom. Overwhelmed, I found myself thanking God for a Mother who because of her faithfulness to Him, led her children by example. Thank-you, Marie, for the beautiful reminder of a life that has been surrounded by the love of God.

My mom and aunt sent me this post…at first I was like, Okay, this is a pretty random blog post they sent me! But then I freaked out when I saw a picture of my beautiful Grandma!! I immediately got tears in my eyes as I read your kind, beautiful and TRUE words about my faithful Grandma. She is one of my biggest supporters, loves the Lord so loyally and I know she is always praying for me. And she LOVES her BSF ladies.

If you ever get the chance, please meet her. Your life will be better because of her great love for God in it. Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words! Audrey 🙂audswanderings.blogspot.com

It as if you knew her because your description of her was perfect. She is one of the most godly women I know. Her love for God has been an evident constant through out her life. She shares His love with everyone she meets. Your words are a beautiful reminder, thank you for your post!